Philly officer seen hitting woman to be dismissed

Thursday, October 4, 2012

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A police officer seen on video punching a woman at a street party is being suspended for 30 days as of Thursday with the intent to dismiss.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey took what police called "commissioner's direct action" on Wednesday in the case of Lt. Jonathan Josey following Sunday's events during a north Philadelphia festival associated with the city's annual Puerto Rican Day parade.

Prosecutors earlier said a disorderly conduct charge against the woman, 39-year-old Aida Guzman, was being withdrawn.

A 36-second video posted online shows someone else throwing a liquid toward police officers, and Guzman is seen spraying something from a can. Later, it shows Guzman being struck in the face and falling to the ground, her face bloodied, then being led away in handcuffs.

Guzman, of Chester, just southwest of Philadelphia, and her attorney told WPVI-TV that she hadn't sought the officer's firing but believes it is the right decision. She thanked people who supported her.

"I feel so happy," she said, adding that she earlier had "a lot of pain" in her body.

Of Ramsey's decision, John McNesby, president of the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police, which often speaks on behalf of police officers, told WPVI-TV, "I think it stinks. It sends a bad message to the police out there on the streets."

McNesby earlier said he hoped there would be "neither a whitewash nor a witchhunt," adding that Josey, a highway patrol supervisor, was eager to tell his side of the story to internal investigators because there is more to what happened than the video shows.

"Sure it looks bad," McNesby said of the video. "But, you know, does it warrant firing, with the record? You've got to take the whole totality of circumstances into account."

He said earlier that officers don't know whether what's being thrown on them is simply water or whether it's urine or chemicals, as has happened before.